Change of Heart
by Jjmt
Summary: After Neyla's betrayal in India, the whole Cooper Gang is arrested, Bentley included. They all get sent to the Contessa's prison and are losing all hope of ever being rescued when someone renews their hope and helps Sly to escape. The rating may change later as may the title if I come up with a better one
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Captured

 **This is another teaser to a story I may or may not update soon. It begins from the final operation of the third episode of Sly 2. Nothing more to say about it I think... Enjoy!**

Betrayal! The Cooper Gang, along with Carmelita had been betrayed by someone they had thought as a close ally. The treacherous tigress had obviously taken great pleasure in slapping the handcuffs on all four of them. The gang couldn't believe Neyla would do this to them. She'd worked with them to catch members of the Klaww Gang, in the process helping them to acquire the Clockwerk parts. They had even thought her as a friend, but now she'd stabbed them all in the back.

Despite feeling angry, Sly also couldn't stop the feeling of hurt that was evoked by Neyla's betrayal. He was the one who _really_ couldn't fathom that the tigress could sell them out like this. He had really started to like working with her. She hadn't seemed all black and white like Carmelita and was always ready to _bend_ the law a bit to catch the criminals. That was what Sly and his gang did too and she seemed to understand that. He had also been looking forward to their date in Bollywood...

"Take them away!" the Contessa ordered.

Her three guards harshly grabbed Bentley, Murray and Carmelita and lead them to separate vehicles meant for transporting prisoners. Sly watched helplessly as his friends and crush were thrown in them. The guards went with them, leaving Sly with Neyla and Contessa.

"Time to go, Cooper" Neyla hissed as she gripped his arm in a similar fashion as the guards had.

He too was lead to a vehicle with small, barred windows and roughly pushed in. Neyla was about to just shut and lock the door, but the Contessa came from behind her and announced that she would be riding with "Mr. Cooper" and keeping an eye on him. The tigress had glanced at her with annoyance, but climbed in without an argument. She sat across from Sly and regarded him with a cold, emotionless stare. He returned it, but in his gaze, the sadness and hurt he felt showed along with the anger and contempt. The vehicles drove away, leaving the spice temple completely abandoned.

Neither the raccoon nor the tigress relented their stares until the other fell asleep.

* * *

Some days later, Sly couldn't tell, they arrived at the Contessa's rehabilitation centre. A fancy word for prison, Sly had thought when he'd heard it. Neyla had been forced to spend most of the various rides from place to place with Sly and to say she was unhappy would be an understatement. She didn't want to be with him. Every minute with him made her feel increasingly uncomfortable and she didn't like it. He shouldn't have had such an effect on her, he was just another person on that long list of people whose usefulness had come to an end.

Sly didn't speak a word to the tigress during the time they were forced to spend together. He'd given up staring at her and just leant his head back and closed his eyes. He thought he'd heard Neyla release a breath after doing this, but once Sly's eyes returned to the tigress, her unrelenting stare was there again. He didn't bother returning it anymore. It didn't really matter.

But when the windowless car they were sitting in slid to a stop and the door was opened, Sly looked at Neyla dead in the eye and voiced only one, single word:

"Why?"

And for one fleeting moment before he was dragged away from the car, Sly thought he saw a flicker of genuine remorse cross Neyla's features. But when he blinked, it was gone, replaced again by that emotionless look.

After that, they'd gone separate ways. _Both_ were thankful for not having to look at one another. Sly because it made him sad to look at her. He'd given up trying to be angry. The hateful emotions had long since dissipated and only his sorrow remained.

Neyla on the other hand, was tense and the uncomfortable feeling from earlier refused to go away. Her mind was invaded by this new sentiment, _regret._ She tried to push it away, telling herself that she had never been sorry for anything and wouldn't start now. But her mind was haunted by Sly's face. The face he had worn when her betrayal was revealed, the spiteful and woeful stare she'd received in the first few days of their journey from India, and finally, the sorrowful look without any feelings of ire clouding it.

Her mask of insensibility had almost broken and she had been close to showing some manner of feeling towards the raccoon thief. Neyla didn't like that, she didn't like these new feelings that were emerging in her mind with every passing minute. She wanted it to stop. She didn't need him! He shouldn't have mattered this much!

Neyla looked at the C-shaped cane she was still holding in her hand. The Contessa, when she had asked, told her to do what she wanted with it. The tigress hadn't yet decided what to do. Should she just throw it in the river and be done with it or... should she keep it?

 _"Why on earth would I want to keep it?"_ she questioned herself.

Neyla was unable to provide an answer to that question, but when she turned to go back to her current apartment, the cane was still in her hand.

* * *

Sly let out a sigh when he was dragged away. He didn't bother resisting the guards dragging him. They were already within the prison's walls and he couldn't escape just like that. In fact, he doubted he could ever get out on his own. No, it would require help. He dared to hope that Bentley could come up with some sort of escape plan in time. They wouldn't be going anywhere anyway.

His thoughts returned to the tigress who'd so callously deceived them. Sly had thought, or more so hoped that Neyla would have understood him and why he was a thief and what it meant to him to destroy the Clockwerk parts. Apparently, he'd been wrong about her. She didn't even care!

Letting out another sigh, Sly looked up from his somber contemplation. The guards were hauling him towards a small metal bunker. He guessed it was where they were going to be keeping him during his stay. One of the guards opened the heavy metal door and the other pushed the raccoon in. Once the door shut, almost complete darkness fell into the little hole. There was a small opening in the bunker's door that let in a little light from outside, but it didn't matter much in there.

 _"Guess I won't be seeing Bentley or Murray in some time"_

 **It's a bit short, but not too bad, wouldn't you agree? Review and stuff...**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Conflicted emotions

 **It's short, I know and it's mostly just Neyla and Sly contemplating about their feelings... I'm sorry. I'll try to make the next chapter longer and a bit more action-filled.**

In the modest apartment provided by the Contessa, Neyla was preparing to turn in for the night. She was glad to be able to finally sleep in a decent bed. The days during which she'd had to guard Sly had been trying. In between their daily rides and staring contests, which he'd given up, Neyla had been forced to sleep uncomfortably in any which place. At least she'd gotten a tent.

But now, when she was so comfortably situated in between the covers, sleep evaded her. The tigress lay awake, staring at the ceiling. Sly's voice rang in her ears once again.

 _"Why?"_

His sorrowful face haunted her mind and the feeling of regret returned. This kind of compunction was new to Neyla. She had never before had anyone to feel guilty or remorseful about. The feelings were so alien that they greatly disrupted her mental balance. Sly's sad look transformed to that of accusation in her head.

With that, another emotion emerged in the tigress, surprising and confusing her even more: pity. She felt sorry for the raccoon. She felt sorry about having to betray him like that. He had taken her offered friendship and trusted her. It had landed him in jail.

Truth to be told, Neyla had on occasion wished that she wouldn't have needed to do what she had. Sly would've been such a good friend and perhaps something more...

 _"No! It can't be, even if I wanted it... which_ _I_ don't _!_ _"_ Neyla shouted in her head, _"I don't need it! I don't want it!"_

All this emotional turmoil was so confusing to her. It was new for Neyla who had always been alone and ignored her feelings. She didn't want to care about someone. No one had ever cared about her and in time it had become clear to Neyla that no one wanted to. She only wished to wrap up in the solitude that had been her constant and sole companion for all these years until on that fateful night when she had foolishly shared a dance with Sly Cooper.

That tango had changed _everything._ For the first time in her life, Neyla had forgotten herself, forgotten how to think and just let the raccoon lead her through the dance floor. Something in that dance had sparked a feeling that she had never felt towards anyone.

 _Love._

For a moment, the only thing Neyla had wanted was for Sly to look at her like he did at Carmelita. With such ardent, but mischievous passion. Her mind had swooped out of control and all kinds of fantasies had appeared in her mind. Him looking at her with love. Her embracing him tightly. Both of them slowly leaning in-

 _"NO!"_

Neyla wanted to scream in frustration. The different emotions penetrated into her heart and forced the unfamiliar warmth to spread in her. She loved and hated it at the same time. No matter how hard she tried, it didn't go away. In fact, the warmth only strengthened and firmed, burning away her disguise of loneliness and neglect.

 _"No...no...I can't love him. It doesn't make sense! Why him?"_

* * *

 _"Why her?"_

That was what Sly had asked himself for the past hours or days, he didn't know. He still couldn't quite fathom the treachery from Neyla. The raccoon had considered her an ally and a friend, but apparently she was neither of those. It stung in Sly's heart to even think this.

Upon being throw in "The Hole", Sly had fallen into his thoughts. They were obviously dominated by the tigress who'd betrayed them in such a cruel and heartless way. However, even if he had wanted to try, Sly still couldn't bring himself to be angry at Neyla.

But despite all the feelings and thoughts raging inside of the raccoon, there was one fundamental thing that didn't waver in the mental storm. A warm feeling, a port in the storm, a safe haven if you will. It felt same as the emotions he often experience with a certain foxy inspector. Those feeling had faded though. They'd become replaced by other feelings. One's far stronger and more prevalent and in a strange way, her betrayal helped him understand Neyla better.

All this confused Sly. Why would he still even want to harbour any of such feelings for someone so deceitful and treacherous? It made no sense at all! The feelings were nevertheless there. Persistent, demanding his attention. It was a torment for Sly. To love someone who'd mislead them in such a way.

 _"Love?"_ Sly thought grimly, _"Do I love her? How can I love her?"_

He had no answers to these questions, but he knew something. An inescapable, undeniable fact:

He was in love with Neyla.

* * *

 _"But I don't want to love him!"_ Neyla screamed in her head, _"And even if I did, he would never love me! He's in love with Carmelita"_

This realization cut deeper in her heart than she'd ever care to admit. The newly found emotions pestered her out of sleep. She only wished for couple of hours of sweet freedom the slumber would provide. But no! That desire was not granted for her.

The evidence was against her. By this point, Neyla knew she'd have to make peace with her feelings for Sly and after that, she would need to do her best to make peace with the raccoon.

That was the first time in the entirety of Neyla's life when her heart was clenched with a feeling she had not ever experienced herself.

 _Regret._

 _"What have I done?"_

 **Review and stuff...**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Rescue

 **Happy New Year, people.**

 ** _May this year be even better than the last_**

 _"Don't fall behind"_

That's what Neyla had said to him the second time they'd met. That was in Paris, the city of love some call it... Sly had ran through the entire city in a playful race with the tigress. He had imagined that Neyla lead him astray on purpose. Sly remembered his momentary bewilderment when they had run across the same rooftop twice. That was when the raccoon had looked at Neyla for explanation, but he'd encountered something completely different. The tigress' face had held an expression of child-like delight. She had seemed to have been happy to have someone who would just... fool around a bit with her. The thought had seemed strange to Sly, but even then, in that moment, he had felt something tug at his heart. A connection forming. He had felt such kindred spirit with Neyla for sharing this fun with him. Sly too loved running and he too experienced the childish joy of it. Especially when done with a trusted companion. That was what Sly had, in the lack of a better term, thought her as back then.

But now, when he was sprinting along the prison wall and not acknowledging anything else but the purple tail a few feet ahead of him. This time it was far from playful.

There Sly was, as comfortable as one can be in his meager cell, thinking of a way to somehow escape (the odds had been grim) when someone had opened "The Hole". Sly hadn't been blinded by the guards' lanterns like he'd expected. On the contrary, before him stood not a guard, but a very familiar purple figure...

For a brief moment neither of them said anything, just stared at each other in complete silence. It lasted but a moment, then she realized why she had come in the first place.

"We need to go. The power will be back on soon" she had turned around and almost broken into a sprint when Sly heard a quiet whisper, "Don't fall behind... Ringtail"

From there a series of events led them to the prison wall. The power was back on and the guards were running after them in vigorous pursuit. Sly saw no means of escape. They had only two options, both of which were equally bad. They were either to jump off the prison wall and risk dying to the 300 feet fall or hide deeper in the prison, which was an alternative that neither Sly nor Neyla was reluctant to follow.

"Smoke bomb!" Neyla called.

Sly had only a second to sidestep and avoid the cylinder that went flying from the tigress' hand and straight in front of the guards. A cloud of dark smoke engulfed them, sending them to fits of coughing.

Neyla stopped there, satisfied with her temporary distraction.

"Grab a hold of me!" she ordered.

"What?"

"Quickly! We're jumping" she snapped.

Sly looked down and saw only a vastness of dark water. A sight that was enough to make him back away from the edge.

"Neyla... I can't swim..." somehow Sly found the time to be embarrassed.

"We're not landing in the water. Now take a hold!" Neyla snapped again.

Sly hesitated for a split second more before wrapping his arms around the tigress.

"Jump!"

And they jumped. The motion was simultaneous and fluid, both leaping gracefully. They plunged through the air, like a projectile. Sly was about to shout in alarm at the water's surface that was growing nearer at uncomfortable speed. But Neyla had made a plan that could almost make Bentley jealous. She had supplied herself with a paraglider, which was now applied to lessen their falling speed and tilt them from vertical drop to more horizontal glide.

But there was one thing Neyla had forgotten to take into account: their combined weight. Now Sly was, despite his scrawny appearance, still heavy and when that was combined with Neyla's weight, the one-person paraglider wasn't enough to soften the fall. They were in for a rough landing. But in spite of all this, the thing that terrified Sly the most was the fact that they wouldn't necessarily reach the ground, but would fall into the water.

Fortunately, chance was with them! Bit more with Sly than Neyla, though. The tigress was forced to let herself drop out of Sly's hold or his body would have crushed hers against the stone edge. She fell down, but managed to hold on and not fall into the water. Sly on the other hand had painfully fallen halfway on the edge, leaving his legs dangling in the air. For a moment, they slid on the sleek stone, trying to find purchase. Once his feet were securely on place, Sly hauled himself up and flung his other foot onto the edge and hoisted his body to even ground.

There he lay, panting in ragged breaths, heart pumping and his chest aching badly. For a moment, Sly had to collect his thoughts.

 _Escape, Neyla, freedom..._

His trance was however broken by a grunting noise. Only then it was that he remembered Neyla, who was still hanging for dear life on a little stone appendage.

Sly reached for her, but stopped abruptly. Now that all the action was over and the dust had settled, Sly remember again the reason why he was in prison to begin with. He was looking at the reason. The reason was hanging there by her arms, desperately trying to beg for help with those green eyes of hers.

But to Sly it wasn't really a struggle because even if his emotions raged on the surface, deep down, he knew he wouldn't be able to let her fall.

"Throw your whip, Neyla" Sly instructed, "I can't reach you otherwise"

Without a word, she did as was told. It was slightly difficult, seeing that it was hard to hang only with one arm while the other unfolded the whip. Neyla succeeded, nonetheless, and her whip became unfolded and was flung to Sly. He caught it and started hoisting the tigress up. It wasn't hard for him and as soon as she was within arm's reach, Sly grabbed her and pulled her the rest of the way.

He had used a bit too much force though, and they ended up doing a slight tumble and Neyla landed on top of Sly. Both drew in a shallow breath of surprise. Her face was mere inches from his. Their eyes locked, green to brown. Neither of the two said a word, but their eyes spoke wonders to one another. Their awakened emotions had cast aside any reason and rationality.

Sly thought that he should not let this happen or at least question it, but the feelings he had would not subside. In his head, Sly wanted to hate Neyla for all she'd done, but now his head was overridden by his heart and in his heart, the raccoon couldn't find any ire towards the tigress. Rather, he would've had her stay like this for as long as she felt so.

Neyla was having her own kind of struggle. She still wondered about her feelings for Sly. Doing what she intended would make the feelings real, evaporate any lingering doubts she still might have. Would she dare to do it? Where would it lead? What would Sly say? How would he react?

 _"Can he even forgive me?"_ Neyla thought with sadness.

Her hand snaked itself to Sly's cheek, lightly stroking it. The action was instinctive and was received as such by Sly who let out the tiniest sigh of pleasure. Their actions were fueled by deep emotions and neither found anything wrong or disputable in them. Neyla was enraptured by Sly's handsome features just like Sly was enchanted by Neyla beautiful visage.

They didn't know when it happened, but both felt the raw, intense affection emanating from the other when their lips touched.

 **Ha! Take this! I'm also going to be evil and leave the chapter here even if it'd be more reasonable to just continue it, especially seeing that it's, again, quite short, but at least there was a tiny bit of action there as well. Review and stuff...**


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